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Rays Sure To Protect Their Valuables

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 25, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - It's fair to say Scott Kazmir has had his moments of frustration with the Rays' insistence that their star pitchers be treated with the utmost care.

Kazmir chafed at pitch counts imposed last season and endured a lengthy rehab this spring from what was described by all involved as a minor elbow problem - though he said all the right things as he worked his way back throughout March and April.

That said, Kazmir answers quickly when asked about the course of action the Rays took with last year's top draft pick, David Price, when he felt a little something in his elbow this spring and ended up waiting until Thursday night to make his professional debut.

"I thought it was a great idea to slow things down there a little bit and just get him through this first full season, and then they can go anywhere from there," Kazmir said. "But it's all about being a little cautious right now, because he's got a big-league arm and he's going to help us in the future - in the near future. That was a great idea."

Kazmir spent some time with Price when both were working out at the Naimoli Complex, navigating various training exercises and bullpen sessions while wishing they were doing their work in games that counted. Kazmir said he talked to the rookie about the importance of patience - a principle the 24-year-old lefty has taken some time to embrace himself.

"I'm glad that everything's on track now and he kind of understands it a little bit more," Kazmir said.

The Rays know Price would have preferred to speed up a timetable that saw him work through numerous throwing sessions and appear in four extended spring training games to build up his pitch count and prepare him for starting. But they weren't about to depart from their conservative approach with such a valuable commodity, no matter how good he said he felt.

"David was obviously extremely anxious to get out and compete against hitters in a more competitive situation," Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "Obviously for us it was very important to keep the long term in mind and to build him up in a controlled manner in extended spring and when he got to that point we sent him out."

Now that Price is finally accumulating statistics - and hitting 97 mph on the radar gun - any discussion of him will inevitably include questions and speculation about how quickly the Rays will move him through their system.

"We've said repeatedly as far as expectations that we're going to let David develop at his own pace, and when he's ready to pitch in the big leagues, he will," Friedman said. "The thing that's important to remember is he's made one professional start now, and there are some things for him to work on that we feel like will allow him to pitch at the front of a major-league rotation. We're going to do everything we can to put him in that position to come up here as quickly as possible and help us win games."

They obviously don't know now exactly when he'll reach Tampa Bay, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him in Montgomery before too long.

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